After more than 20 years with debilitating pain, a nurse made the difficult and costly decision to leave Canada for treatment.
Global News had heard from dozens of women across Canada about the struggle to access care for endometriosis, several of whom are now seeking or have sought help outside of Canada. This is Part 1 of a three-part series on why women are choosing to leave their own country for medical help. Part 2 will be posted on Tuesday, Sept. 3 and Part 3 will be posted on Friday, Sept. 6.
“I just couldn’t function. I basically had 10 good days a month — debilitating cramps, headaches, fatigue, ongoing nausea — it was a lot. I felt at that stage I had so much taken from me and it just infiltrated all areas of my life,” Todd recalls.Endometriosis is a debilitating chronic condition that occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus implants abnormally outside of the uterus to form lesions, cysts, nodules and other growths.
She later struggled to get pregnant. She says she had to stop all treatment and that after giving birth, her symptoms only got worse. Following 18 months of trying to get pregnant she says she was eventually referred to the B.C. Women’s clinic in November 2022. “I got in quite quickly in April of 2023, and then there was another huge delay. They decided, ‘Oh, you do have endometriosis on your bowel. You’ve got a nearly four-centimetre growth on your bowel. At this point, then we have to bring in a general surgeon.’”
“By this point, I am missing out on countless family events. I am exhausted. I am struggling to maintain my job as a registered nurse. I’m missing so many shifts, due to pain and fatigue and illness because my inflammation was so high, I just got everything that my daughter brought home,” Todd recalls.
She says in total for the surgery and travel expenses she paid around $30,000 Canadian but says she faced prices of $80,000 or more from some sites in the United States.
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